Boulder Center for Sports Medicine

A slightly different bike fit question. Several years ago my wife had a cervical fusion (C3,4,5) due to a work related injury. She is an avid competitor and continued to stay active through a variety of activites, eventually taking up cycling. She raced three seasons of mountain biking and then transitioned to road cycling/time trialing. Unfortunately, due to what we now recognize was an improper bike fit, she began experiencing tingling/numbness in her tongue (compression of the lingual nerve). Scared, she got off the bike, sought out a local chiropractor/kinesiologist and took up swimming.

She is feeling better and tentatively ventured back out on the mountain bike with no problems. Her doc believes the more relaxed and dynamic mtb position is less risky than a more static and aggressive road/tri position (unless she takes a good fall of course). However, he isn’t discourging her from getting back out on a “properly” fitted road/tri back. Her neck was fuse in a forward, rather than neutral position, so an aggressive position is probably not a good option.

So, given her medical history, she is looking for someone that can combine some medical knowledge with experience fitting bikes. We recently read about the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. Has anyone been there? Do any of you with similar medical histories or medical knowledge have any suggestions or insights?

Dan,

Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Dr. Andy Pruitt practices there, among other places. He is one of the legends in sports medicine and cycling medicine/physiology in particular. If you have the opportunity to consult with him, don’t pass it up. It would be hard to find someone more qualified or experienced to help you or your wife out.

By the way, he is a competitive cyclist himself. (walks in your shoes)

I went to the Center last summer for some testing. I did not have any of the major issues you are dealing with, but i found the staff to be very nice and they explained my test results thoroughly and were kind enough to answer emails I sent afterwards. I would recommend them to anyone.